This is a spatial 2nd-floor apartment, modern, immaculately clean (it looks brand-new) and with a well-appointed kitchen. The principal attraction of this apartment is its location on a quiet street of stately homes in the pine-tree forest. It is just under 10-minute ride from the lake and the tourist bazaar of downtown South Lake Tahoe, the main attraction of which for us was Whole Foods Market.
The street is called High Meadow Trail, and indeed there are hiking trails starting almost at the door; we tried the Power Line trail.
Last and not the least, Maria and Bob are the hosts to dream of: very welcoming, tactful, and helpful; it was a pleasure to meet them. Among other helpful advice and information, they made available several useful hiking guides and maps. (There are also some pretty good books on the shelf, but we usually were so tired that we just stared at them.)
Overall, in spite of the low temperatures, about 30 at night, when our plans of swimming in the lake went down the drain, it was a wonderful vacation.